A Garden Lesson-From Broken to Alive

This is what I saw when I looked into my once beautiful, raised bed of green beans. I was so bummed. So much work had gone into this garden, and I didn’t want to give up on the harvest. We planted, tended to and harvested some, but I envisioned much more. So, I decided on that gorgeous summer day that tomorrow…I’d rip out the bed and just start over.

Alive. Overcoming. Renewed.

This is what happened when I let go of my control of this raised bed of green beans. While I had given up and basically decided the work I put in had reached its peak, there was major transformation. And to my amazement, my garden had come alive again. I had gone out with the intention to tear out the old, and when I slowed down and looked a little closer, I gasped. There was new growth taking over the once bug eaten, wind beaten, “dead” beans. So, I again began to nurture, have patience, and in a sense rest in the hope of the new harvest. And for two more months, we had some of the most beautiful green beans and by far the largest harvest we’ve ever had.

Now, some of you may be wondering, “Why are you writing about your garden box of beans?” And I, myself, wondered why this garden box of beans kept resonating with me. Why did I keep thinking about the beauty in the new growth? And then it hit me. It reminded me of how I often feel, and even how many others may feel as well.

Beaten down. Worn out. Useless.

This is often how I feel when I refuse to release control of my life. When I fail and pivot, fail and pivot, fail and fail and fail. When I focus on everything I try to do to grow so that the harvest will be great. When I work so hard to make it count, but still fall short. When life happens and I forget what is actually happening behind the scenes in certain seasons. When I want to give up and just throw out the old and start over.

Alive. Overcoming. Renewed.

This is what Christ does in our lives. When we do all we can, and it still isn’t enough in the natural, we tend to give up. Perhaps we want to start all over again and just throw out the old. But isn’t it amazing how God is working “behind the scenes” all along? When we slow down and look a little closer, we can gasp. He is growing us in new ways while our old selves are dying. When we feel like we are used up and have no more to give, He breathes new life into us. He is making things new and beautiful in ways we could never do on our own. He is growing us so that His glory is the ultimate harvest.

Whether we are in a season of living in the new or dying to the old, I think it’s an awesome reminder to know that He is always working. He can make worn out, refreshed. He can make anxious hearts, peaceful. He can make sick, well. He can make broken, alive. He can make anger, love. And today, I’m leaning on that truth.

How about you? Have you seen His work when you had done all you can and wanted to give up? Have you seen His beauty come alive amongst the broken? I’d love to hear your story.